January
2000 Newsline
Articles

The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission (LASFAC) at its Dec. 14
meeting adopted several amendments designed to address questions resulting from
inconsistencies between academic institutions in the reporting of remedial and
repeat hours, and to clarify the fact that summer, intersession and advanced
placement credit hours cannot be used to satisfy the
24-hour-per-academic-year requirement for retention of Tuition Opportunity
Program for Students (TOPS) awards.

As a result of the amendments, recipients of the TOPS Opportunity,
Performance and Honors awards may now count remedial hours toward the 24-hour
requirement, but may not include summer, intersession or advanced placement
hours.

The changes came about as a result of a meeting of the Louisiana Association
of Student Financial Aid Administrators (LASFAA) Advisory Committee. The
committee met in early December to discuss discrepancies between schools in the
reporting of TOPS hours.

Specifically, the advisory committee was asked by the commission to look at
creating a uniform policy for crediting hours for remedial, repeated and
advanced placement courses. The question posed by the commission to the
committee was, "Can we agree on some consensus among the schools for the
reporting of these hours?"

The advisory committee concluded that in interpreting legislative intent,
credit received from repeated courses and advanced placement should not be
considered as "earned" for the purpose of meeting the continuation
standards for TOPS awards, and therefore should be excluded. However, the
consensus of the LASFAA members was that a uniform policy for excluding hours
earned by repeated courses was not administratively practical.

The commission then adopted by emergency measure the advisory committee’s
recommendation to accept across-the-board all remedial hours required by
academic institutions, with the sole exception being the TOPS Teacher Award. The
commission also adopted the committee’s recommendation that repeated courses
only be recognized if the school reports those hours. To determine if repeat
hours are credited for TOPS, the student must check with the school attended.

In a further clarification of the hours requirement, the commission
re-emphasized its definition of "academic year" as being the fall and
spring semesters (or fall-winter-spring quarters) only, thus excluding any hours
earned during summer and intersession terms as well as any hours granted by
advanced placement testing.

The 24-hour-per-academic-year requirement compels students to complete a
full-time course load each term. "It was the legislative intent for the
students to meet at least full-time enrollment requirements," Louisiana
Office of Student Financial Assistance Executive Director Jack Guinn said.

The Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission (LASFAC) at its Dec. 14
meeting adopted a recommendation from the AD Hoc Rules Committee establishing
Applied Mathematics III (formerly referred to as Applied Geometry) as an
equivalent course substitution for the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students
(TOPS) high school core curriculum advanced mathematics requirement.

New counselors added to Tulane staff:
The Financial Aid Office at Tulane University recently hired four new
counselors, expanding their aid advisory staff to seven. Joining the staff in
early November were Keith Mueller, Adina Collins, Sonda Johnson and Brian Fox.

NSU changeover: Northwestern
State University has hired Kristi Motter as acting director of financial aid,
replacing previous Acting Director Kenn Posey, who has been named marketing
representative with Educaid.

LOSFA goes to SWASFAA: LOSFA’s newly created School and Lender Section
(SLS) was represented at the annual Southwest Association of Student Financial
Aid Administrators (SWASFAA) conference Dec. 8-10 in New Orleans at the Fairmont
Hotel. Conference presentations included U.S. Department of Education regulatory
updates on the 1998 Reauthorization of Higher Education Act of 1965 and Title IV
funding for institutions with distance learning students. In a breakout session,
the SLS arm of the agency, which includes Sigmund Morel, Jeff Cropco and Kelly
Cormier, along with LOSFA Assistant Executive Director Melanie Amrhein, met with
Louisiana financial aid representatives to discuss topics for the upcoming
LASFAA Spring Conference to be held March 1-2 in Lafayette.

LOSFA hires publications manager:
The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA) has hired Dawn Love
as publications manager in the Public Information and Communications Division. A
native of Ruston, La., Love graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 1995
with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She joined LOSFA from BIC magazine, a
national monthly business and industry publication headquartered in Baton Rouge.
Love was a member of the BIC production staff for four years, serving most
recently as managing editor.

During the month of February, the Louisiana Office of Student Financial
Assistance (LOSFA) will conduct a series of financial aid workshops for the
parents of 2000 high school graduates.

Though the schedule has yet to be finalized, each of the Parent Night
workshops will take place from 6-8:30 p.m., and will be held on high school or
university campuses throughout Louisiana.

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) will be the primary focus
of the workshops. Attendees will be updated on TOPS qualifications, deadlines
and recent legislative changes. LOSFA representatives will also provide
instructions for completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA),
which serves as the TOPS application.

Because of the great interest in TOPS, LOSFA has requested that attendance be
limited to only parents of 2000 graduates. The workshops will continue to be an
annual event, thus allowing LOSFA to provide the most up-to-date information to
parents in the year of their child’s high school graduation.

Upon confirmation of the workshop dates, LOSFA will forward a complete
schedule to all Louisiana high schools as well as the statewidemedia. The schedule will also be available on the LOSFA Web site, located
at http://www.osfa.state.la.us

As of Nov. 5, 1999, more than 72
percent of students who received Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS)
awards during academic year 1998-1999 have met renewal requirements for academic
year 1999-2000.

"This number is very close to
the figures we projected back in July when a first-year attrition rate of
approximately 25 percent was predicted," Gus Wales, Louisiana Office of
Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA) director of Public Information and
Communications (PIC), said.

Of the 23,290 Louisiana students
receiving TOPS in the program’s first year, only 6,218 (27.9 percent) failed
to meet the scholarship’s renewal requirements. Of those who did not renew,
2,562 (41.2 percent) were canceled because they did not complete the 24 semester
hours required during the two semesters defined as the academic year. Another
1,407 (22.6 percent) were suspended from the program because they did not meet
the grade pont average (GPA) required to maintain their awards.

"However, the suspended awards
may be reinstated if the student remains in school full time and regains the
required cumulative GPA within two years of suspension," Wales said.

Students seeking to renew their
awards at the end of the program’s first year were granted a one-time
extension of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) renewal
deadline from July 1 to Sept. 15, 1999 by the Louisiana Student Financial
Assistance Commission.

Only 296 students failed to file
renewal applications by the extended 1999 deadline. Those students’ awards
have been suspended. They may, however, regain eligibility for academic year
2000-2001 if they file the FAFSA before July 1, 2000.

Looking at renewal levels within
each of the three largest categories of TOPS awards – Opportunity, Performance
and Honors – a dramatic difference in retention is evident.

Recipients of the TOPS Opportunity
Award posted the highest attrition rate. Only 64.2 percent of 1997 high school
graduates and 63.7 percent of 1998 high school graduates who received the
Opportunity Award during the program’s first year were renewed for academic
year 1999-2000. Initial requirements for the Opportunity Award are a cumulative
high school GPA of 2.50 on a 4.00 scale and an ACT score of 19 for 1997 and 1998
graduates. Once enrolled in college, retention requirements are a minimum of 24
credit hours earned each academic year, a cumulative GPA of 2.30 at the end of
the first academic year and 2.50 each successive academic year.

Recipients of the TOPS Performance
Award performed significantly better with 89.6 percent of 1997 high school
graduates and 90.2 percent of 1998 high school graduates achieving renewal.
Initial requirements for the Performance Award are a cumulative high school GPA
of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale and an ACT score of 23. Retention requirements are a
minimum of 24 credit hours earned each academic year and a cumulative GPA of
3.00 at the end of each academic year. Recipients of the Performance Award who
fall short of the 3.00 GPA requirement may be renewed at the Opportunity Award
level, provided they have the required continuation GPA for that award.

Recipients of the TOPS Honors Award
achieved the greatest rate of retention, with 93.6 percent of 1997 high school
graduates and 93 percent of 1998 high school graduates earning renewal. Initial
requirements for the Honors Award are a cumulative high school GPA of 3.50 on a
4.00 scale and an ACT score of 27. Retention requirements are a minimum of 24
credit hours earned each academic year and a cumulative GPA of 3.00 at the end
of the academic year. Recipients of the Honors Award who fall short of the 3.00
GPA requirement may be renewed at the Opportunity Award level, provided they
have the required continuation GPA for that award.

"As you can see, our highest
attrition rate is coming from the Opportunity Award level," Wales said.
"What this tells us is that the Opportunity Award is appropriately named.
This group represents those slightly above-average high school students who are
significantly less prepared for college as indicated by lower ACT scores and
high school GPA’s. These students are receiving an opportunity to get a
state-assisted college education."

For more information, call LOSFA’s
Public Information and Communications Division at (800) 259-5626 Ext. 1012.

Financial Assistance (LOSFA)
recently completed a year-long restructuring effort designed to provide better
service to its primary client base of schools, lenders, borrowers and general
public. The organizational restructuring has resulted in the creation of two new
assistant executive director positions, the formation of a new School and Lender
Services Section (SLS) and the reorganization of the former Customer Services
Division into a new Public Information and Communications Division (PIC).

The agency restructuring grew out of
a Jan. 7, 1999 joint meeting between the Advisory and Ad Hoc Marketing
committees of the Louisiana Student Financial Assistance Commission (LASFAC).
The meeting had a single topic on the agenda: how to increase LOSFA’s share of
federal student loans guaranteed by the state.

At the time, LOSFA guaranteed
approximately 38 percent of the Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) made to
Louisiana students. The remaining 62 percent went to out-of-state guarantors.
The benefits of increasing the state’s market share developed because of
changes brought about by passage of the 1998 Reauthorization of the Higher
Education Act of 1965.

As a result of these changes,
guarantors now have the ability to use a portion of the income generated from
fees collected on each guaranteed loan for any educational purpose they wish.
This has created an opportunity for LOSFA to generate income to offset some of
the costs of administering the state’s educational programs, including its
premier scholarship program, the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students
(TOPS).

Discussion at the LASFAC joint
committee meeting centered on those Louisiana public postsecondary institutions
which were not using LOSFA as their primary guarantee agency. Members indicated
the main reason for this underutilization of the state guarantee was a
perception by some college financial aid administrators that better service was
available elsewhere.

Committee
members reported that some aid officers believed service levels at LOSFA
had suffered because of the intense effort made by LOSFA’s staff to
implement the TOPS program. The joint committees then concluded that
ensuring prompt and complete resolution of loan processing problems would
encourage financial aid officers to use the state agency as their student
loan guarantor.

As a response to those
suggestions, and with the approval of LASFAC, the agency began a
structural reorganization aimed at providing better client service. The
new assistant executive director positions were created to oversee agency
support services and agency operations, respectively.

In charge of the new branches are
Mark Riley, assistant executive director of Support Services and Melanie Amrhein,
assistant executive director of Operations and Aid Programs.

Riley’s Support Services branch
includes the following agency divisions: Fiscal; Information Systems; Program
Review; and the newly created PIC.

Amrhein’s Operations and Aid
Programs branch includes the following agency divisions: Guarantee Operations,
which oversees Loan Administration, Pre-Claims and Collections; Scholarships and
Grants; START Savings; and the newly created SLS.

Public Information and Communications
Division (PIC)

Prior to recent restructuring, the
former Customer Services Division, under the leadership of then Acting Director
Gus Wales, was the primary arm of the agency responsible for servicing school
and lender clients as well as the public. This also included high school
guidance counselors, elected officials and TOPS students.

Three former customer service
representatives were moved from the division as part of the restructuring. The
three have been reassigned as school and lender representatives, thus creating
the new SLS. The remainder of the existing Customer Services Division was
charged to continue providing support services to the public, but under a new
name, Public Information and Communications (PIC). As part of the support
systems branch of the organizational tree, PIC falls under the assistant
executive directorship of Riley.

With
Wales as division director, PIC receives all incoming phone calls to the
agency’s main telephone line as well as contacts to the agency Web
site. These inquiries are mostly basic questions on loan programs and
scholarship/grant issues. PIC is also responsible for presentations and
browse sessions at high school financial aid events, for conducting
guidance counselor and parent workshops as well as the annual
Trailblazer camps.

The publications section of
PIC produces all agency publications, internal and external training
materials, PowerPoint presentations and other mass communication
materials and maintains the informational content on the agency Web
site.

"This new structure
will allow both PIC and SLS to concentrate their efforts on better
servicing our respective constituencies," Wales said

School and Lender Section (SLS)

The newly created School and Lender
Section (SLS) is solely responsible for marketing LOSFA programs and services to
postsecondary schools and lenders and servicing their needs. Personnel in this
section are called school and lender representatives.

SLS representatives will actively
network with USA Group marketing representatives through field activities and
joint LOSFA/USA Group workshops and presentations. In addition, SLS will
coordinate agency participation in USA Group services marketing efforts in
Louisiana.

The
new school and lender representatives will participate in all LASFAA
activities and will represent the agency at their meetings. As part of the
operations branch of the organizational tree, SLS reports directly to
Assistant Executive Director Amrhein.

Each postsecondary school and
lender has been assigned a specific representative. A list of SLS
representatives, their assigned regions and their contact numbers follows.

Sigmund Morel, SLS supervisor, services Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Hammond
and Thibodaux. Morel can be contacted by phone at (800) 259-5626 Ext. 7727
or by e-mail at smorel@osfa.state.la.us.
Jeff Cropco services north Louisiana. Cropco can be contacted by
phone at (800) 259-5626 Ext. 1682 or by e-mail at jcropco@osfa.state.la.us.
Kelly Cormier services south Louisiana/New Orleans. Cormier can be
contacted by phone at (800) 259-5626 Ext. 7692 or by e-mail at kcormier@osfa.state.la.us.

All TOPS recipients must earn 24
hours of credit each academic year or the number of hours needed to complete
their undergraduate degree. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of
your TOPS award. The academic year is defined as the fall and spring
semesters or the fall, winter and spring quarters.

Exceptions to the 24 hours of
earned credit per academic year may be granted by the Louisiana Office of
Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA) for certain circumstances beyond the
student’s control. Students seeking waiver of this requirement must
complete an exception to continuous enrollment request form and provide all
necessary documentation. If approved, and all other continuation
requirements are met, the award will be reinstated. Requests for exception
to continuous enrollment must be received no later than the last day of the
academic year for which the student seeks reinstatement.

Earning 24 credit hours each
academic year is the responsibility of the student. If you are taking
remedial, repeat/delete or correspondence courses or you receive advanced
placement credits, youmust
consider how your school will record and report these hours. Whether these
courses are counted toward credit hours earned will depend upon your school’s
policies. If the school does not consider these courses as earned credit
hours, you must complete the additional credit hours necessary to total 24
by the end of the academic year. (The summer term is not part of the
academic year and credits earned will not be counted towards the 24 hour
credit requirement).

At the end of each academic year,
the following cumulative grade point average (GPA) must be maintained:

Performance or Honors award
recipients who fail to maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA at the end of the
academic year will revert to the Opportunity Award, provided they have
maintained the GPA necessary for renewal at that award. Once the recipient
reverts to the Opportunity Award, the Performance or Honors award cannot be
reinstated.

Students who fail to maintain
steady academic progress at the end of any semester or quarter shall be
suspended until that minimum standard is achieved. Steady academic progress
is defined as a 2.00 cumulative GPA.

Students whose awards are
suspended for failure to maintain the required GPA may be reinstated upon
attainment of the required GPA, provided that the period of ineligibility
does not persist for more than two years (one year for the Tech Award).

To renew your TOPS Award for the
2000-2001 academic year, you must complete the 2000-2001 Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Renewal FAFSA.

The FAFSA must be received by the
federal processor no later than the state deadline of July 1, 2000.
Applications received after July 1, 2000 will not be considered. Students
who fail to meet this deadline may be reinstated the following year by
filing the 2001-2002 FAFSA by the 2001 state deadline. The deadline for 2001
may be changed, so check.

High school
guidance counselors from around the state took part in eight different
workshops across Louisiana.

The 1999 workshops, presented by
LOSFA’s Public Information and Communications (PIC) Division, were held in
Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Monroe, New Orleans and
Shreveport, La.

Each workshop provided overviews of
the agency’s programs including the START Saving Program, Trailblazers,
upcoming parent workshops, the LOSFA Student Loan Guarantee and the Louisiana
College Payment Plan. The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) proved
a chief area of concern and inquiry. The thorough TOPS presentation addressed
revisions to the core curriculum, special accommodations and waivers, the
availability of TOPS updates on the Web, the status of the process to date as
well as a summary of the 1999 award program.

LOSFA representatives guided the
counselors through sessions detailing recent legislative action affecting the
TOPS program, online certification procedures and eligibility inquiries, and
student rights and responsibilities. Financial aid administrators and/or
counselors from various colleges shared information on the "Basics of
Financial Aid." Instruction on how to surf the Web for financial aid and
properly fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Financial Aid (FAFSA)
were also covered.